Information management by companies in Extremadura

This paper presents The most important results of a survey of the largest companies - in terms of number of employees and turnover - with their headquarters in Extremadura (Spain). The main objective was to determine corporate behaviour with respect to information management, the need for information and its uses, and their information collected from the companies business environment. A questionnaire was sent to 144 selected companies, of which 73 responded. Only 5 of the responding companies bad more than 250 employees, but 23 bad a turnover higher than 10,000,000 Euros. The final survey questions reflected the results of a pilot questionnaire sent to a smaller number of companies and The suggestions made by various Spanish experts. Some 69.86% of respondents bad no form of information and/or library services unit, although 46.58% did have some structured mechanism responsible for capturing knowledge for decision-making from the business environment. Information from distributors, suppliers and clients was regarded as the most important information capturing channel. Trade associations were The most important bodies providing information for decision-making (>60%), followed by financial institutions and The regional authorities.